Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream

This Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream is incredibly smooth, rich, and decadent. It’s filled with swirls of peanut butter, intense dark chocolate flavor, and crushed pretzels. It’s easy to make, and the most perfect summertime treat!

(This post is sponsored by Chocolove! Thank you so so much for reading and supporting the brands that I love!)

Oh, chocolate and peanut butter. I don’t think I could love a combination much more than that one. Right?! It’s hard to beat the overall amazingness of peanut butter mixed with rich, dark chocolate. And when salty pretzels are added to the mix?! In ice cream?! I can’t.

This ice cream is SO insanely creamy, rich and perfect, and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make. I’ve made my own ice cream from scratch a few times, but this was by far the easiest.

This version uses sweetened condensed milk for sweetness and creaminess instead of making a custard base with egg yolks. This version is less finicky and tastes even better to me than a custard version!

Easier and more delicious?! Sign me up!

My favorite part of this decadent goodness has to be the sweet + salty combination. Chocolove dark chocolate never ever fails me, nor does peanut butter, and the crushed pretzels in this give it the saltiness and texture I love!

It’s especially important to use a good quality dark chocolate here, because of the way it melts, and the richness it gives the ice cream, which is why I always keep a stash of Chocolove in my pantry! I’ve been using it for years in my baking and recipes and I can’t get enough!

My favorite is their 70% dark chocolate, but they are all PHENOMENAL.

I can’t even contain my love for this ice cream! It has literally ALL of my favorite things. If there was a perfect combination of flavors, this would be it for me!

I had such a hard time shooting this recipe without eating the whole darn batch. It’s not overly sweet – it’s just the perfect amount, which is another reason why I love it so much. All of the flavors really shine!

This would also be the most perfect treat to make for your dad for Father’s Day! I’m all about showering people I love with food, so edible gifts are always something that I give often!

And my dad would definitely LOVE this. He loves peanut butter like I do, and he enjoys a square of dark chocolate every single night. A SQUARE. I admire his self control. I can’t say that gene was passed down to me! 😂

I especially don’t have any self control when it comes to this ice cream. I mean, can you blame me?

Another thing my dad absolutely loves is Bailey’s. So you should definitely think about serving this ice cream with some Bailey’s! Irish cream liquer + chocolatey goodness + swirls of peanut butter + salty pretzels..what could be better?!

You can either serve it in a bowl and pour a little bit over it, or serve a cone inside of a glass with a shot in it (which would be super cute for a party!), but either way would be super fun and delicious!

Can you see how creamy it is?! The melted dark chocolate just makes it unbelievably silky. SO IN LOVE.

I can’t wait for summer and lots of homemade ice cream! Trying to decide what combination to make next 😍 Tell me what your favorite ice cream flavors are!!

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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream

This Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream is incredibly smooth, rich, and decadent. It's filled with swirls of peanut butter, intense dark chocolate flavor, and crushed pretzels. It's easy to make, and the most perfect summertime treat!

Course Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 5 hours

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 5 hours 10 minutes

Servings 1 quart

Author Molly | Spices in My DNA

Ingredients

• 2 bars (6.4 ounces) Chocolove dark chocolate (I used their 70% version), chopped
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup loosely packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (not the natural, drippy kind), plus extra for swirling on top
• 3/4 cup pretzel twists, crushed, plus extra for sprinkling on top

Instructions

1. First, make sure your ice cream maker's bowl has been chilled in the freezer overnight! I always just keep my bowl in the freezer so I don't forget! Prepare an ice bath in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

2. Place the chopped dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil (or any pan that the bowl can rest on without touching the water). Once boiling, reduce heat to a low simmer and rest the bowl on the pan (if you have a double boiler, that works great too!) Stir the chocolate until it is melted and smooth. Set aside.

3. In a separate saucepan, bring the milk, cream, sugar, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, cocoa powder, and salt to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes, whisking the mixture constantly until smooth, being very careful not to let the mixture boil. 

4. Pour a ladleful of the milk mixture into the chocolate and whisk quickly until smooth. Add another ladle of the milk mixture and working quickly, whisk again until smooth. Repeat until you've added half of the milk mixture, and then add the remaining and whisk to combine until smooth and incorporated.

5. Strain ice cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl (this will get rid of any clumps and make your ice cream super silky!) Place the bowl in your ice bath (but make sure that no water overflows into the ice cream mixture!) and chill for 30 minutes or so, or until mixture has cooled completely.

6. Transfer the ice cream mixture into the bowl of your ice cream maker. Churn for about 20-25 minutes, or until your ice cream has reached the consistency of a thick soft serve. During the last couple minutes, add half of the peanut butter gradually in spoonfuls, as well as the pretzel pieces. During the last few seconds of churning, add the remaining few spoonfuls of peanut butter, so that it barely gets mixed in and creates "ribbons" of peanut butter in the ice cream.

7. Transfer the ice cream to a loaf pan lined with parchment, or a freezer safe container. Swirl additional peanut butter into the top of the ice cream, and sprinkle with extra crushed pretzels, if desired. Cover with plastic wrap or wax papered press against the surface to prevent ice crystals from forming. Freeze until solid, at least 4 hours. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*Ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks!

ice cream base adapted from here.